Chapter 22: The Quelling
“Wait, eruption?! What are we supposed to do?!”
“You haven’t seen the signs? This isn’t the first time the mountain has shown instability since I’ve awakened.”
“Oh, do you mean the tremors as of late? So, that was because of the volcano after all.”
Frequent tremors had been happening for a while now. As everyone clamored in fear, thinking it was the “rage of the spirits,” Ruri worried about the nearby volcanic mountain, Mt. Ulawoon. It seemed her fears were justified. Heat had been asleep for a millennium, and the volcano erupted a millennium ago. There had to be a correlation.
When she asked to clarify her suspicions, Heat replied, “I assume even you know that any land with spirits grows stable and fertile, yes? Well, seeing how I’m the supreme spirit of fire, as long as I’m around, this literal hotbed of fire power will naturally remain stable. Ergo, this mountain has yet to see an eruption.”
“Oh, that makes sense.”
“Well, not that it matters much now. This mountain was already unstable due to the church’s handiwork, but you bunch have essentially finished the job. This is what happens when you do things without consulting me first.”
“How were we supposed to know this would happen, though?! Rin and the others never told us! And, actually, you should’ve told us earlier yourself, Heat-sama!”
“The power of earth strongly influences the power of fire. Water and the others couldn’t have known what would happen since they didn’t know I was keeping things regulated.”
“In that case, you should’ve—”
“Hey, we don’t have time for all this leisurely chitchat,” interjected Joshua. “If this place is gonna blow, we need to evacuate pronto.”
“Oh, right,” Ruri muttered, coming back to reality. “Let’s hurry and get out of here.”
They needed to evacuate quickly since the cave was no longer safe, but there were still many people inside—not just soldiers but members of the church as well. Ruri didn’t know how large the eruption would be, but she wasn’t certain they had enough time for everyone to escape.
They soon exited the cave, telling everyone they passed to evacuate themselves. Now outside, they could see a trail of smoke billowing from the peak of the mountain. Volcanic debris fell from the sky, making the area dangerous.
“Yikes, this isn’t good. Did the soldiers and church members evacuate?” Ruri asked as she watched the volcano erupting before her eyes. She turned back to Joshua in concern. They needed to get everyone out before the smoke made it hard to see.
“There’s a lot of people to move. It’s still going to take some time to get everyone away from the mountain.” People were scrambling out of the cave, but the church members were moving slower since they were bound. “Still, it’s not going to be a big eruption, so all we need to do is get to the base of the mountain—”
Immediately after Joshua spoke, another loud explosion came from the top of the mountain.
“Eeek!” Ruri screamed as she ducked for cover.
Rocks came lagging behind the explosion, hailing down from the sky. Fortunately, they were smaller than pebbles, barely big enough to cause issues even if they did hit anyone. However, none of them could rest easy since bigger rocks could come flying out at any moment.
“Hey, there’s a bigger one on the way,” Heat said in the most nonchalant way imaginable.
If an even bigger eruption was in store, the damage from the lava and pyroclastic flow could become a serious issue—not just for the mountain but the capital as well.
“Hey, Heat-sama. If the power imbalance is causing this eruption, couldn’t you stop it since you were the one regulating in the first place?”
“Yes, I suppose I could.”
“Then, please!” Ruri asked, practically yelling her request.
“And why would I ever need to do that, pray tell?” Heat responded, bitterly dashing her hopes. He wasn’t refusing her request just to be mean; he honestly couldn’t comprehend why he should do what she asked.
Ruri was befuddled. “‘Why’? I mean, people might get hurt at this rate.”
“What does that have to do with a spirit such as myself?”
“But, you’ve been regulating it this whole time, haven’t you? Wasn’t it to prevent an eruption?”
“You seem to have been mistaken. I can’t very well sleep with eruptions going about. I merely did that to ensure myself a sound slumber,” Heat said in a horribly apathetic tone.
Apathetic as it was, however, that was how spirits truly operated. They were self-centered beings by default. Humans didn’t influence their actions one way or another. Spirits prioritized their own feelings above all else. Kotaro, Rin, and the other spirits treated Ruri with care because she was both a Beloved and a contract-bearer. If she wasn’t, their line of thinking would be no different than Heat’s.
“But at this rate...”
“Wind and Water may fawn over you, but I do not. I will not act unless it will yield me a profit.”
“A profit. Profit...” Ruri murmured, desperately spinning her gears to find something that would motivate Heat.
“I could bake you cookies...”
“Unnecessary.”
“If you want money...”
“Do you think I, a spirit, need money?”
“Well, I...don’t.” The only other things her jumbled brain could come up with was writing him up a “One Free Shoulder Massage” or “Slave for a Day” coupon. She was so pressed for time she couldn’t think of anything remotely decent.
“Are we finished here? In that case, I’ll be going.”
“Wait a second! Um, how about... Oh, I’ve got it! What about a beautiful banquet with a hundred beautiful ladies?!”
Ruri shouted out the first thing that hit her desperate mind to the self-proclaimed ladies lover. His reaction was, in a word, stellar. Heat’s eyes lit up with so much vested interest that he looked ready to take off at any moment.
“A hundred beautiful ladies... Hmm, yes, if that’s your offer, then I certainly can’t say no.”
“Really?!”
“A hundred, understand? No homely-looking ladies and no cooking up the numbers.”
“Right, right! Deal!” Ruri furiously agreed.
Heat had a dopey smile on his face, possibly imagining himself surrounded by a bushel of beauties.
Ruri quickly said yes to Heat because she wanted him to help, but Joshua and Ewan were apprehensive about Ruri’s conduct.
“Hey, hold up, Ruri. Are you sure you should be making promises like that?” Joshua asked.
Ewan added, “You do realize that if you end up going, ‘Oops, on second thought, we can’t do that after all,’ he’s going to be pissed beyond belief, right? Do you have connections?”
“It’s fine. I’ll put it all on the Beast King’s lap. If a hundred beautiful girls will save his kingdom from peril, I’m sure he’ll handle matters. I’ll go around and ask girls myself too. Heck, I’ll beg, if I have to.”
The castle had a glut of extremely pretty female workers, no doubt due to Arman being just as big of a Casanova as Heat himself. Ruri figured that if she asked around the castle, she could at least gather up a hundred of them. In fact, once they learned it was a supreme-level spirit’s desire, the devout spirit-religious people of the Nation of the Beast King would likely happily fulfill his wish. After they got the ladies, they just needed to convince Arman to prepare a suitable venue for the banquet.
“All right, then. Wind, bring me up to the crater! I want to hurry this up and get back. My bevy of beauties await!”
Heat was brimming with so much enthusiasm that you couldn’t tell he had been opposed not even a second ago. It seemed he was that eager to meet his beautiful welcome party.
He hopped on Kotaro’s back with a smug face, instructing him where to go, and Kotaro dashed off. As the two of them reached the cusp of the active crater, they both disappeared into the smoke.
“I sure hope this works out,” Ruri muttered, not because she didn’t have faith Heat could do it but because she was worried he might change his mind and quit.
It wasn’t long after the two departed that the weak, intermittent tremors settled and the outpour of smoke from the crater started to subside.
“...Is it under control?” asked Ruri.
“Looks like it,” answered Joshua.
Realizing that they should get out while they had the chance, Ruri’s party started descending the mountain. It took time to escort the restrained church members down the rugged mountain path, but they couldn’t undo their bindings in case they tried to make a getaway. Luckily, there weren’t any more eruptions to follow, so Ruri came to the conclusion that Heat must have gotten the volcano under control.
Flakes of ash rained down and piled up on the ground around them, but Ruri’s group made it safely down the mountain without incident. Everyone breathed easier...until they spotted Kotaro coming down the mountain by himself.
“Kotaro, where’s Heat-sama?”
“If you mean Fire, he dove into the crater.”
“Wait, what?! Is he going to be okay?!”
“He’s not the Spirit of Fire for nothing. The heat of flames causes him neither pain nor discomfort.”
However, Heat was in a human body. Ruri was more worried about the body itself, but it was likely safe to assume he would be fine even if his outer human shell was burnt away. After all, the worst-case scenario would be that he lost his body and had to change into a new one.
“He’ll make his return soon enough. Let’s return to the castle,” Kotaro suggested.
“Right, let’s,” Ruri agreed.
◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
Fortunately, no one sustained any notable injuries other than the rescued dragonkin soldier. The leader of the Church of God’s Light and his followers were successfully apprehended.
The leader and the senior members involved in assassinating Beloveds and raising the dead underwent intense interrogation. As for the other members who were deceived into joining, they were also questioned, but since they weren’t involved in the particulars, their interrogation wasn’t nearly as severe.
Apparently, once it was explained to them that their loved ones didn’t actually come back from the dead, most of them easily complied. Most of them, at least. There were some who weren’t willing to believe and raised a fuss, but they were few and far between. After all, they probably held doubts before this. After seeing their loved ones revive looking totally different from when they were alive, it was no wonder. Nevertheless, they likely tried to convince themselves to believe in the church to hold out hope.
After returning to the castle, Ruri took off her bloodstained clothes and washed her soot-covered body in the relaxing waters of the hot springs. Once her bath was over, she waited for Heat to make his return, but he was taking an awfully long time. Ruri quickly passed out from exhaustion.
One day passed into another and Heat still hadn’t returned. On the morning of the day after that, Ruri awoke to a stifling sensation on her chest. Convinced that Chi was sitting on top of her again, she slowly opened her eyes to see—a close-up of Heat and his mane of bright red hair.
Ruri pulled back in surprise, but Heat had his arm wrapped around her and wouldn’t let her go. She tried twisting her way out of his clutches, knocking the sheets off in the process and revealing an even more shocking sight.
“Eeeek! Heat-sama, why aren’t you wearing any clothes?!”
Heat was unapologetically nude, and Ruri was trapped in his naked embrace.
“Let me go! I mean, put on some clothes!!”
“...Hmm, control your voice, brat.”
Ruri frantically thrashed against Heat, but his adult male body proved too strong. She struggled, but to no avail.
Still in a sleepy stupor, Heat wrapped his legs around Ruri as well, clinging to her like an overgrown leech. He was pinning her down, leaving her no way to run.
“Wake up and get off!!”
Seeing Kotaro and the others at her bedside, Ruri pleaded, “Guys, do something!”
Just as she was about to get up, a knock came at the door and someone entered.
“Ruri, I heard your voice so I assume you’re awake?”
Ruri looked toward the direction of the speaker. There she saw Jade, his jaw practically dragging the floor. She started to ask him why he was here and not the Nation of the Dragon King, but her question was drowned out by Jade himself.
“Ruri! Who is that?!” Jade asked loudly. He had stumbled upon a scene that was easy to misinterpret and his shock was immeasurable. He gave them a piercing glare, enraged at the sight before him. Enraged for good reason too. Ruri was cavorting with a naked man.
Kotaro, Rin, Chi, and the other spirits stood off to the side, but Jade’s eyes were focused solely on the man and Ruri.
“A man...” Jade stated, his tone icy.
“Huh? No, that’s not it. This totally isn’t my fault. I mean, when I woke up, things were like this. Heat-sama and I aren’t like that to one another!”
Ruri finally understood what this all must’ve looked like. She hastily tried to explain it away, but the more she attempted to clear up the misconception, the more it sounded like poor excuses in an attempt to hide the truth.
“Ruri, sleeping in the arms of a naked man you have nothing to do with?! Sharing a bed with another man...without my permission?! Should I challenge that man to a duel? Or should I warmly congratulate you? No, I can’t bring myself to do that. What should I do?”
“No, no, no! You don’t have to do anything!” Ruri protested.
“Oh, things sure sound fun in here, huh?” Joshua said, popping his head into the room. He immediately recognized the situation once he saw Jade and Ruri, so he decided to pop back out and observe from the sidelines.
Ruri felt sorry for Jade, whose rage had shifted into sorrow, but this was a complete misunderstanding. At least, that was what she wanted to explain to him, but doing so with a nude man clinging to her didn’t make for the most convincing of arguments.
As she pondered a way to somehow get Heat off of her, she felt his legs loosen a little bit. Not letting this opportunity pass her by, she kicked Heat off with all her might, finally freeing herself from his embrace. Then she jumped out of bed and rushed to Jade.
“Jade-sama, this is a misunderstanding!”
“Ruri, do you prefer that man to me?”
“No, I’m telling you, you’ve got it all wrong! Heat-sama is the Spirit of Fire!”
“What? You’re romantically involved with a spirit?!”
“Uh, no, you’ve got it wrong again...”
It would take a good while to dispel Jade’s misconceptions, but Kotaro and Rin eventually intervened and managed to clear the air.
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